West Wickham woman’s charity launch

A WEST Wickham woman is to launch her own charity with a celebratory event next month.

Chris Tuck set up Survivors of Abuse after suffering an abusive childhood. The launch event takes place on October 14 at The Warren in Hayes and will be attended by the Coronation Street actor Chris Harper and his wife, the actress Emily Bowker.

Chris, who sits on the panel of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse originally set up by Theresa May, says her charity will work holistically and offer a wellness programme to “empower adult survivors to heal and fulfil their potential”.

She says: “There is so little help available to survivors in spite of the fact that the subject of abuse is in the media daily.

“We know in our dealings with GPs that they struggle to know what to offer patients who start to open up about their childhood abuse – something that is becoming more common as people feel more able to talk about the subject.

“Limited counselling often has a wait list of several months and then is confined to a short series of sessions. In short we are failing these people.”